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Chelsea keeper Courtois eyes December return

Thibaut Courtois: Set to return for Chelsea

Thibaut Courtois hopes to be back in action from a knee injury by December, but Chelsea are expected to be without Branislav Ivanovic this weekend.

Belgium international Courtois needed surgery following damage to ligaments in his right knee suffered in training last month.

Courtois revealed the procedure had gone well and he was now set to step up his recovery programme.

“In terms of my knee, it is good. I am doing my rehabilitation and it is progressing fine,” Courtois said following Belgium’s Euro 2016 qualifying win over Israel.

“I will be (now) starting the bulk of the work with my physio to come back as soon as possible.

“Of course I still have to be careful not to go too quickly, but all being well, I should be back in December.”

Chelsea have struggled for consistency this season, with the defending Premier League champions 16th in the table, already some 10 points behind leaders Manchester City ahead of this weekend’s home clash with Aston Villa.

Full-back Ivanovic suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty with Serbia.

The defender has returned to London to be assessed, with some reports suggesting he could be out for around three weeks, which would see him miss the away Champions League tie at Dynamo Kiev as well as potentially fixtures against West Ham, Stoke and Liverpool.